Jesus' Assessment

Mark 14:17-20
Jesus, during the Passover meal, gives a revelation that cuts to the heart of the disciples.  He tells them that one of them will betray him this very evening and it arouses sorrow within the disciple's hearts.  They begin to ask him who, hoping it is not them.  There is reception of his words and it confronts and convicts them, and they receive them with truth and sorrow: initial conviction.  However, just a few verses later, Jesus tells them that all of them, though not betraying him as the other person will, will fall away and deny him (vs. 27).  The disciples deny this is true, even trying to convince him he is wrong this time (vs. 29, 31).  Jesus even gives them evidence it is true by the fruit they produce in Gethsemane.  He tells them to watch and pray, lest they fall into temptation (vs. 37, 38).  Twice they fall asleep.  They cannot even pray, as told to, because they are so very weak, despite what they may think of themselves or desire within.  They trust their own assessment instead of Jesus' assessment of themselves.  They believed their desires and viewpoint over the fruit they produced (i.e. they could not even pray).  Their initial conviction of Jesus' revealing words in vs. 18 have since faded in favor of their own diagnosis and opinion, despite the fruit of their lives.  Do we believe Jesus' scathing words: if we love the world we cannot love God (James 4:4; I John 2:25)? that if we do not give up all we have and all we are then we cannot follow after him (Luke 9:24; 14:33)?  Or instead believe what we tell ourselves?  Even if we have had initial conviction over these radical assessments, that bears no weight on current circumstances.  The disciples' initial conviction and sorrow faded quickly, and they refused to believe Jesus' assessment and the fruit that coincided, instead opting to trust their own opinion and they all fell away as a result (vs. 50).  Jesus has given us his ways and standards to follow him.  He has given us the fruit this life will bear.  So, do we believe his assessment or our own?  his words or our own opinions?  The answers to these will determine whether we will fall away or not.